TRUMBULL SLAYING Supreme Court rejects bid by Biros for appeals

The federal appeals process has just begun. By MICHELE C. HLADIK VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT COLUMBUS -- A Trumbull County man sentenced to die for a 1991 murder has run out of state appeals. The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously agreed Wednesday to deny Kenneth Biros' application to reopen his state appeals because of what he termed ineffective assistance by his appellate counsel. "We have reviewed his assertions of deficient performance by appellate counsel and find that Biros has failed to raise a genuine issue as to whether he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel on appeal," the high court's decision reads. According to Angie Greene, assistant state public defender, the application is standard in the appeals process. She said counsel failed "to raise a couple of issues." Greene added that Biros has just begun the federal appeals process. "He's got plenty of time left," she said. Biros was convicted of the 1991 aggravated murder of Tami Engstrom of Hubbard, whose body was cut up. He was also convicted on charges of felonious sexual penetration, aggravated robbery and attempted rape.